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I am a descendant of JC Reilly and Edward Michael Reilly, they are my 3x great-grandfather and 2x great grandfather, respectively. My name is Sally Reilly.

I have very much enjoyed looking through the information that has been posted about the business, in particular, all the photos of the guns and labels.

I have a a bit of information I can add to what you have already, more about the family that the actual guns.

His granddaughter Martha Stephens explained why he came over to England in a book she wrote about her father, She wrote that he was the son of a Squire who was sent to England to study and become a barrister. She explained, “This was because Roman Catholics were not allowed in Ireland to enter any profession and there was no other course for him to be duly qualified” I assume he came over between 1805 and 1812. (I have no information about the family in Ireland)

The first record I have found for JC Reilly was his marriage to Martha Barkley, at St Andrews Holborn, on 17 May 1812. They went on to have four children, Ann b. 7th Mar 1813, Ellen or Elinor b. 30 March 1815, Edward Michael Reilly, b. 1 Sept 1817 and Charles Joseph Reilly, b. 4 July 1819. (Source: Documents held at Wiltshire and Swindon Archives).

Anne Reilly married Henry Stephens FRCS, a surgeon and ink manufacturer and they had 7 children, one of whom became an MP, and one of which wrote a booklet about her father Henry Stephens in which she refers to her mothers family, the Reilly's. In particular she mentions grandparents JC Reilly and Martha, and her Aunt Ellen. She described the marriage of Joseph and Martha as ‘It was a most unfortunate union for her’. We can assume this was partly due to the character of Joseph Charles Reilly as she wrote “Joseph Charles Reilly was selfish, harsh, (and) neglectful of everything but his own comfort. No one had a good word to say of him.”

Ellen never married, and spent quite a bit of time in Paris, France.

Edward Michael Reilly went into the gun making business, as you are already aware.

Charles Joseph Reilly, I believe spent some time in New York as an Agent for Stephens Ink, I have very little other information about him.

Joseph Charles Reilly’s business was obviously successful, as in 1824 whilst still living at 12 Middle Row, he bought a property called Bourne End Farm (now called Hill Green), in Cranfield, Bedfordshire for Ł1625.

The 1841 Census, recorded Joseph Reilly, aged 61, a Gunmaker, born in Ireland living in Holborn. Also living in the same household was Martha Reilly, aged 54, Elinor, aged 26, both born in the same county, Middlesex and Edward Reilly aged 24, a Gunmaker, not born in the same county. There was another member of the household aged 20 years, a female servant, The actual address that Joseph Charles and his family were living at was 12 Middle Row, as this is recorded on other sources, namely directories and electoral registers.

Joseph Charles moved to 502 Oxford Street, Bloomsbury, Finsbury in 1848, he held a tenancy agreement on this address from 1848 to 1860 onwards. In 1881 this was renumbered 16 New Oxford Street. This was the address he was living at on the night of the 1851 census. He claimed to be a widower. (We know this is not true, as his wife Martha was found to be living with their daughter Anne Stephens.) His occupation was Gunmaker and his birth place was recorded as Granard, Ireland. Also living with him was a servant. I think Joseph and Martha were estranged.

He moved again in 1859, taking out another tenancy agreement on 315 Oxford Street, which backed onto Salvation Army Hall.

The 1861 Census, recorded Joseph Charles Reilly, aged 73, living at Bourn End, Cranfield as head of the household. Again he claims to be a widower, which this time is correct. (We know that Martha Reilly nee Barkley died in November 1960.) His occupation was recorded as Fund holder and Land Proprietor and his birth place as Ireland, Bonin. (Not been able to find out where this is it does not seem to exist) Living with him was a young, unmarried housekeeper, aged 23, called Elizabeth May from Buckinghamshire.

Joseph Charles Reilly died on 11th January 1864, aged 79 at Cranfield, Bedfordshire. According to his death record he died of ‘decay of nature’, old age. Susanna Hailey was present at the death and left her mark, suggesting she was illiterate. It is likely that she was his house-keeper.

Joseph Charles was buried in the Graveyard of the Parish Church in Cranfield, Church of St Peter & Paul. He requested in his will that he wanted to be buried in 'in a plain manner and that a decent stone be placed at the head of my grave with the inscription "Joseph Charles Reilly formerly Gun Maker London”.'

I have more information about E M Reilly that I will post another day.

Sally

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Originally Posted By: Reilly
I am a descendant of JC Reilly and Edward Michael Reilly, they are my 3x great-grandfather and 2x great grandfather, respectively. My name is Sally Reilly.

I have very much enjoyed looking through the information that has been posted about the business, in particular, all the photos of the guns and labels.

I have a a bit of information I can add to what you have already, more about the family that the actual guns.

His granddaughter Martha Stephens explained why he came over to England in a book she wrote about her father, She wrote that he was the son of a Squire who was sent to England to study and become a barrister. She explained, “This was because Roman Catholics were not allowed in Ireland to enter any profession and there was no other course for him to be duly qualified” I assume he came over between 1805 and 1812. (I have no information about the family in Ireland)

The first record I have found for JC Reilly was his marriage to Martha Barkley, at St Andrews Holborn, on 17 May 1812. They went on to have four children, Ann b. 7th Mar 1813, Ellen or Elinor b. 30 March 1815, Edward Michael Reilly, b. 1 Sept 1817 and Charles Joseph Reilly, b. 4 July 1819. (Source: Documents held at Wiltshire and Swindon Archives).

Anne Reilly married Henry Stephens FRCS, a surgeon and ink manufacturer and they had 7 children, one of whom became an MP, and one of which wrote a booklet about her father Henry Stephens in which she refers to her mothers family, the Reilly's. In particular she mentions grandparents JC Reilly and Martha, and her Aunt Ellen. She described the marriage of Joseph and Martha as ‘It was a most unfortunate union for her’. We can assume this was partly due to the character of Joseph Charles Reilly as she wrote “Joseph Charles Reilly was selfish, harsh, (and) neglectful of everything but his own comfort. No one had a good word to say of him.”

Ellen never married, and spent quite a bit of time in Paris, France.

Edward Michael Reilly went into the gun making business, as you are already aware.

Charles Joseph Reilly, I believe spent some time in New York as an Agent for Stephens Ink, I have very little other information about him.

Joseph Charles Reilly’s business was obviously successful, as in 1824 whilst still living at 12 Middle Row, he bought a property called Bourne End Farm (now called Hill Green), in Cranfield, Bedfordshire for Ł1625.

The 1841 Census, recorded Joseph Reilly, aged 61, a Gunmaker, born in Ireland living in Holborn. Also living in the same household was Martha Reilly, aged 54, Elinor, aged 26, both born in the same county, Middlesex and Edward Reilly aged 24, a Gunmaker, not born in the same county. There was another member of the household aged 20 years, a female servant, The actual address that Joseph Charles and his family were living at was 12 Middle Row, as this is recorded on other sources, namely directories and electoral registers.

Joseph Charles moved to 502 Oxford Street, Bloomsbury, Finsbury in 1848, he held a tenancy agreement on this address from 1848 to 1860 onwards. In 1881 this was renumbered 16 New Oxford Street. This was the address he was living at on the night of the 1851 census. He claimed to be a widower. (We know this is not true, as his wife Martha was found to be living with their daughter Anne Stephens.) His occupation was Gunmaker and his birth place was recorded as Granard, Ireland. Also living with him was a servant. I think Joseph and Martha were estranged.

He moved again in 1859, taking out another tenancy agreement on 315 Oxford Street, which backed onto Salvation Army Hall.

The 1861 Census, recorded Joseph Charles Reilly, aged 73, living at Bourn End, Cranfield as head of the household. Again he claims to be a widower, which this time is correct. (We know that Martha Reilly nee Barkley died in November 1960.) His occupation was recorded as Fund holder and Land Proprietor and his birth place as Ireland, Bonin. (Not been able to find out where this is it does not seem to exist) Living with him was a young, unmarried housekeeper, aged 23, called Elizabeth May from Buckinghamshire.

Joseph Charles Reilly died on 11th January 1864, aged 79 at Cranfield, Bedfordshire. According to his death record he died of ‘decay of nature’, old age. Susanna Hailey was present at the death and left her mark, suggesting she was illiterate. It is likely that she was his house-keeper.

Joseph Charles was buried in the Graveyard of the Parish Church in Cranfield, Church of St Peter & Paul. He requested in his will that he wanted to be buried in 'in a plain manner and that a decent stone be placed at the head of my grave with the inscription "Joseph Charles Reilly formerly Gun Maker London”.'

I have more information about E M Reilly that I will post another day.

Sally


Thank you very much for this information. I look forward to reading more about E M Reilly.

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Sally, Many thanks for your contribution about the Reilly family and it is remarkable. The birth dates of EM from 1816 to 1817 and the date of the death of JC from 1863 to 1864 have been corrected.

The date of the move from 316 High Holborn to 502 New Oxford has been kept as 23 March 1847 rather than 1848 per the following London newspaper advertisements.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 March 1847, "Morning Post" ("Removing to another establishment..")


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 April 1847 "London News" ("Removed from Holborn")


BLISSETT occupied 316 High Holborn and advertised in April 1847 that these were the former premises of Reilly.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 April 1847, "Illustrated London News" ("Formerly Reilly's")


The effect of anti-Catholic sentiment in Britain at the time on JC and EM Reilly has been a curiosity. Also, England at the time was such a class conscious society. One of my favorite books is "Mr. American," of course written by George MacDonald Fraser (creator of "Flashman" series), about an American gun fighter who made a fortune, wound up in England about 1895 and ran smack into the English class structure...there were something like 175 identified classes and the "proper etiquette" for each class towards each class seems almost as complicated as the Hindu Caste structure in India at the time.

Also it doesn't surprise about the egos or managerial practices of either JC or EM - both created and ran an important company; I think EM had a real gift for marketing.

In the above I've tried to recreate the Reilly serial number chronology and have concentrated on the gun-making. Now we all have something concrete about the men and the family - this fills out the picture of the idividuals. We look forward to more about Edward Michael. For history, we'd all be particularly interested in who ran the company after his death in 1890 and how the Reilly name came to be associated with Charles Riggs in 1922. And, if you have any pictures of either man, they would be much appreciated. Again many thanks - what a pleasant surprise and a historical gift.

Gene Williams

Edit: Also anything you might have on on his Paris branch would be much appreciated. Do you have any info on who ran the Paris store and why EM closed it? The fact his sister spent a lot of time there is fascinating.

Last edited by Argo44; 08/31/18 06:36 AM.

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Here is E. M. Reilly & Co. No. 14672, a 12-bore pinfire game gun, unmarked double bite screw-grip action, with minimal decorative engraving. While it is 'plain', the beautiful build quality nevertheless shows through.




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========================================================================================================================================
1830 - 1890 - Reilly making his own guns
-- These posts provide definitive evidence that Reilly manufactured his own guns...QED:

The question of whether Reilly made his own guns has been repeatedly asked with the usual internet response being "No."

From TRW999's post: "In the 1881 census Edward was recorded living at 315 Oxford Street, before it was re-numbered. He was recorded living with his wife, Mary A (b.1848 in London), 31 years his junior. His children were listed as Charles A (b.1871), Herbert (b.1875) and Gerard (b.1878), all were born in London. Charles A, being born in 1871 suggests that Edward and Mary A were married shortly before 1871 and suggests that Edward could have been previously married and had children. Interestingly, Edward described himself in the census as a gun maker employing 300 men. This figure may have been a transcription error because it is an extraordinarily large number and there is no record of any Reilly factory in London or Birmingham.

The correct answer as detailed above repeatedly and reiterated below: "Yes, the Reilly's made their own guns and did so in their large buildings in London.".
-- they responded to orders 3 times as fast as other London gun makers and could make special orders;
-- by early 1880's they were making over 1,000 serial numbered guns a year + a huge business in guns made under license engraved and marketed by them.
-- It was virtually a factory output - they had to have had their own finishers, engravers, stockers, as has been speculated above; they may have imported barrel stocks and actions from Birmingham but their guns were made in-house.

========================================================================================================================================
1830 - Reilly making his own guns

..........18 July 1830, "Bell's Life."


===========================================================================================
1831 - Reilly makes his own guns (continued)


May 1831 Advertisement from "The New Sporting Magazine."
1) He's making his own guns and calls himself "Gunmaker" - in Jan 1831 rings and jewelry were stolen from his store - this ad may therefore be the first in which he identifies solely as "gunmaker.";
2) He's advertising guns and pistols - at this time he was still serial numbering pistols in his chronology;
2) these are at very moderate prices (see business model);
3) There is mentioned of "Patent Breech" which appears on a couple of his pre 1845 guns. Believe this is the Henry Nock patent.



================================================================================================================
1840 - Reilly making his own guns (continued)


I ran across a note that London gunmaker and Reilly friend HJ Blanch had compiled a notebook of various ads and gun related subjects that had been turned over to the Royal Armories probably about 1905 when he died. On P.15 was an ad by Joseph Charles Reilly at 316 High Holborn (1835-47). Royal Armories sent a photo copy. Much of it is the usual found in newspapers. But this is interesting because it adds weight to the argument that Reilly indeed made or and the very least finished his own guns.
. .1) The ad refers to Reilly's "own guns" and to a barrel boring process he used.
. .2) He could fulfill "peculiar orders" in 4-5 weeks and could rebore barrels.
To do this he had to be able to make his own guns and to have a barrel boring machine on his premises.
..3)Oh yes, note the problem of forgeries which existed even at that time.




================================================================================================================
1861 - Reilly making his own guns (continued)

..........April 14, 1861, "Bell's Life." If Reilly wasn't making his own guns, he sure as heck couldn't have allowed gentlemen to "superintend the progress of their gun."


===========================================================================================
1861 - Reilly makes his own guns (continued)


Reilly made his own guns and on his own premises. There are enough ads and articles around to confirm this now, this in addition to the 1880 census in which Reilly said he employed 300 workers. If there is any doubt that London gun makers made guns on their premises, the bankruptcy inventory of Joseph Manton's building in 1826 included boring machines, lathes, etc. Here are some more ads:

..........11 Jul 1861 "Volunteer's Service Gazette"


..........28 Sept 1861, "Bell's Life"


..........17 Aug 1862 "Bell's Life" - review of guns at the 1862 London World's Fair



================================================================================================================
1862 - Reilly making his own guns (continued)


..........1862 London exposition catalog with Reilly's entry - identifies his manufacturing location as 315 Oxford Street:


================================================================================================================
1862 - Reilly making his own guns (continued)

In an early (1862) advertisement he guaranteed guns he made himself (though by 1880 he was guaranteeing everything that he sold).


Last edited by Argo44; 12/03/18 10:16 PM.

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================================================================================================================
1862 - Reilly making his own guns (continued) - workshop location

Where were his workshops? 1862 at 502 New Oxford Street. Well take a look at his two buildings at 16 (originally 502) New Oxford Street and 277 (originally 315) Oxford Street. 16 Oxford Street is HUGE….It must have 20,000 sq feet of floor space. 277 Oxford Street is almost as big. And since he had a 50 yard shooting gallery at 277 Oxford Street it had to be behind the building in some fashion. (The Quonset hut in the photo is the old Salvation Army hall which gave rise to the name "Amoury House" for 277 and was there throughout the 44 year stay of Reilly at the address). There gentlemen are the Reilly workshops.

.................16 (502) Oxford Street Today........................................................277 (315) Oxford Street Today


...........................502 Oxford Street on Reilly Labels 1858-59


================================================================================================================
1882 - Reilly making his own guns (continued)

Also as an aside in addition to the many articles providing evidence that Reilly made his own guns.
..........1882 Grace's Guide Advert:


===========================================================================================
1863 - Reilly makes guns for British Royalty


Reilly for a brief moment tried to claim to be a gun maker for the Prince of Wales. Well, it turned out he made a gun for future Edward VII but others apparently were to be given away as presents; apparently the royals wouldn't let him put that on his ads:

..........11 Mar 1863 "London Daily News" - lights put up by Reilly to celebrate the Prince's wedding


..........10 Nov 1863 "London Evening Post" - on the Prince's birthday


Prince Alfred seemed to like to give away Reilly's. Another article shows him giving a Reilly gun as a gift to an Indian Rajah,
..........24 Apr 1863 "Morning Advertiser" and repeated in many other papers


================================================================================================================
1820-1912 - Reilly making his own guns (continued) - Both off the rack and bespoke


As long suspected, Reilly sold his own EM Reily named guns both ready-made/off the rack and bespoke/made to order. This may explain some of the SN differences. Though we'll never know for sure unless additional information turns up, Reilly probably SN'd his guns when sold or when ordered and paid for. This may explain Terry Lubinski's 303xx - SN'd in 1888-89 but with "Not for Ball" on the barrel (1887) or my case label 26584 (1884) with "1886" written on the label. This may also be a later development beginning about 1880 with a marketing decision to sell off the rack. And it might explain the spurt to over 1000 SN guns being made per year in the early 1880's. This may merit a new post. Here is an 1888 advertisement in Turner which seems to confirm this:


Last edited by Argo44; 12/06/18 11:07 PM.

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===========================================================================================
1885 - Closing of rue Scribe


Reilly closed rue Scribe in late July 1885 not in 1886 as has been widely accepted (including by me)...this will require a re-doing of the number chronology above. This conclusion is based on reviewing advertisements in the London Press for 1885-86. Reilly posted virtually the same ad in "Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle" (Which became "Sporting Life" in summer 1886) every week for years. Here is the change in advertisements.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Jul 1885. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08 Aug 1885



I think the assumption that Reilly closed rue Scribe in 1886 was caused by long-term advertisements in publications with a long-lead time, which were published yearly such as these.

. . . "Bradshaw's Railroad Guide (Paris) 1886. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ."Burke's Landed Gentry" 1886


The number chronology has been redone. There are also changes in dates in the narrative. "Gun-Maker" first appeared in Reilly advertisements in 1833 rather than 1834. The name of the firm switched in ads from J.C. Reilly back to "Reilly" in June 1840 rather than 1841, etc. Not a big deal except for historians since all I'm trying to do is date the gun serial numbers...but worth noting.

=================================================== ========================================
1886 - rue du Faubourg, St. Honore revisited


In addition, here is likely the reason it has been claimed that Reilly opened a shop on rue du Faubourg, St. Honore in Paris. The ads for this event appeared in London papers on 28 Jan - 01 Feb 1886 only. These are the only references to rue du Faubourg and Reilly found. At virtually the same time - 30 Jan 1886 and 23 Jan 1886, "Bell's Life" published the usual ads in the above format without mentioning rue du Faubourg. The conclusion must be that 1) either the ad was place by the winner of the competition Signor Guidicini and it was he who made an error - the competition was in Monte Carlo (Monaco) after all. or 2) the rue du Faubourg address was indeed on the gun, which means a branch on that street did exist at some time. More newspapers will be searched to look for ads to determine when (if) it opened/closed; might have to go to Parisian Journeaux. Welcome any additional information on this subject. Edited: See p.21 for existence of Rue du Faubourg, St. Honore labels.

EDIT: The entire London newspaper database has been searched for the 1880's...in several ways, "Reilly," "Reilly and guns," "Faubourg," "Faubourg and Reilly," etc. The only references to Faubourg and Reilly are the below articles and advertisements which appeared in the "Sportsman" and "Morning Post from 28 Jan 1886 to 1 Feb 1886. There was a well-to-do English ex-Pat community on rue du Faubourg; English tailors worked on the street for years; there was a French gunmaking concern there as well. It was even then a prestigious address; Reilly would not have kept it secret. Thus unless someone has other information, it must be assumed that the rue du Faubourg address for Reilly in the below ads is not correct.

. . . . . . . . . ."The Sportsman" 28/01/1886. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."The Morning Post" 29/01/1886


===========================================================================================
1885 - Reilly last guns at rue Scribe (repost)


The last extant gun with rue Scribe on the rib is 27340 (and I've not seen the actual photos).
============================================================
27340. (No photos)
E.M. REILLY &. Co.- Oxford Street LONDON & Rue Scribe - PARIS.: Hammergun Side by Side, 12 bore,gun number 27340 London proof mark.Price Euro 1.850. Both guns have damas barrel, owner say in good condition auctioned at www.czernys.com/ in 2005
https://www.internetgunclub.com/~inte8406/archived-forum/posts.php?topicid=288


Terry Buffum mentioned he had a couple of guns 27570 and 27854 which had "Paris" on their barrels (he said 27854 address was unclear). This also would change the chronology significantly if true but I hesitate to start moving things around until I can see the inscription..And there were a few intervening SN's without rue Scribe...There's a lot of "internet legend" around (although Terry can be counted on).
============================================================
27854. (no photos of rib)
http://www.amoskeagauction.com/110/133.php
serial #27854, 12 ga., 30" barrels with bright excellent bores choked full and full. This shotgun is built on a W. & C. Scott crystal indicator action with side clips and with each lock being engraved "E.M. REILLY & CO. / LONDON". The markings on the tops of the barrel are difficult to read but appear to be the E.M. Reilly & Company name and London address on the left barrel and a Paris address on the right barrel. The shotgun was part of a set and is numbered "2" in gold on dolls head rib extension and engraved on interior forend metal. The barrels are Birmingham nitro proofed for 2 3/4" shells with 1 1/16 oz. loads. The minimum wall thickness is generally .0245 with one small area that gets to .023. The action and locks show near full coverage tight English scroll engraving with a nice round flower panel on top of action. The barrels retain about 95% evenly thinning restored blue finish overall. The action and locks show an even gray patina and remain very smooth and free of pitting. The checkered straight grip walnut buttstock and splinter forend rate very good plus as refinished long ago. The gun features a 14 5/8" length of pull over checkered butt and shows drops of 1 1/2" and 2 3/8". The gun locks up tight and points beautifully. A neat crystal indicator sidelever Reilly Ejectorgun. (17147-176) {C&R} [Terry Buffum Collection]



Last edited by Argo44; 11/30/18 09:41 AM.

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The Reilly SN chart above (p.17) has been updated with all the caveats - it'll get you close to the year your gun was produced but includes subjective information. It includes changes reflecting 1857 date of JC's retirement vice Dec 1858; July 1885 date of the closure of rue Scribe vice summer 1886, etc.

It's hard for me to post that Reilly production soared to 950 bespoke guns a year in the early 1880's but that's what the serial numbers say. It also makes Reilly's decline in the 1890's more dramatic. As soon as EM died in 1890 it's as if someone forgot to promote the company's wares. Advertisements just disappeared and by 1894, Reilly's guns disappeared from the Pigeon shooting winners' circle in newspaper results as well.

One assumes it was competition from factory mass-produced guns - a lot of UK gun-makers went into decline about this time...but surely a failure in basic marketing had something to do with it too.

The "New Short History of Reilly of London, Gunmaker" (P.17 above) has been also edited. It would be nice to provide hard information on Reilly from about the closure of 16 New Oxford Street in 1898 to bankruptcy in 1912. But a lot of what's known about Reilly comes from advertisements, gun ribs and case trade labels. If these don't exist, there's nothing really more to report until other resources become available. For instance neither the exact date of the 1898 closure of 16 New Oxford St., nor the 1903 move to 295 Oxford can be established so far. Sally hopefully can help.

===========================================================================================
1900 - 1912??? - Decline in Reilly quality??

Here are a few posts of Reilly's engraving from the 1890's- through about 1905. There looks to be a marked decline in quality for their middle level guns after about 1900 (high quality guns like Toby's former 35079 appear to still be good quality"). This may be an indication of the troubles the company faced; Bert Reilly just couldn't keep up with the times or with the quality.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .30846 (1889). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33358 (1895). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33619 (1895)


. . . . . . . . .34442 (1897). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34723 (1898). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34865 (1899)



Best Gun (formerly Toby Barclay's) 35079 (1900)


. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1901-1905 engraving


Last edited by Argo44; 10/25/18 02:43 PM.

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I know people are fed up with this line - but these posts are interesting enough to make note of for the Reilly historian:

===========================================================================================
1857 - Retirement of JC Reilly


According to this advertisement in the 02 Sep 1857 edition of "London Daily News," J.C. Reilly retired at the end to 1857 (rather than late 1858) and turned everything over to his son Edward. This will effect dating of the J.C. "7000" series serial numbered guns. The above chart will be changed, as will the above narrative "New Short History." It also means that E.M. did not change the name of the company until a year after his father's retirement.



===========================================================================================
1862 - 1864 - Reilly and the Green Bros Breech Loader -2


A Reilly-made Green-Brothers patent breech loader is posted above in the Military gun series. It is SN 13333 and it gave problems in dating Reilly Serial Numbers in the 1860's. It was Reilly made gun nr. 23. Green bros took out their patent in Spring 1862. However, per the below ads, Reilly did not put his first Green brothers guns on the market until April 1864 and the trials really got underway in June-July. In the SN Chart above, 13333 is pretty much in the middle of 1864, an indication of the essential accuracy of those estimates:



..........22 Apr 1864 "London Daily News"


..........04 Apr 1864 "London Daily News" - part of a review of the gun


..........29/Jul1864 "Morning Post" reporting on testing of the Green Bros against others including the Snider:



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===========================================================================================
1862 - Reilly and Sarawak


A good story about an Anglican bishop out in Sarawak (Rajah Brooke - James Brooke -, an Englishman who shot his way to power in the 1840's and whose family remained in charge in Sarawak for 120 years called the "White Raja" until it was merged with Malaysia in 1960). The "Biship" with Rajah Brooke used a Reilly to kill some 80 pirates and his ship rammed and sank three pirate boats. There was lots of hand-wringing in England about those poor boys - reminds you of 9/11 and the sympathy for those poor dears in Guantanamo.

..........09 July 1862 "Bell's Life"


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1871 - Reilly and his first Martini-Henry


Here is more evidence that the above Serial Number Date chart is pretty accurate. The first extant Reilly Serial Numbered Martini-Henry that I can find is 17314. The Chart dates it to late 1871. Here is the first Reilly ad I've found so far that mentions Martini-Henry's - dated December 1871:

..........25 December 1871, "The Graphic"


Reilly did not serial number Martini-Henry's he did not build. And he did not serial number very many Martini's - It seems the Enfield factory would send you the parts to be assembled if you wanted to sell a Martini. He must of built this gun very early on, perhaps one of the very first - The Martini-Henry wasn't adopted until summer 1871 - which may explain why it was serial numbered.




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1877 - 79 - Reilly and 20 bores


Finally a book review about a book written by hunting correspondent "Wildfowler" who used a Reilly 20 bore and a sample of his writing.

..........15 Feb 1879 "Sporting & Dramatic News"


..........29 Sep 1977 "Bell's Life"

Last edited by Argo44; 12/30/18 12:29 PM.

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